The Inspirational Corner is brought to you by Patrick Alexander, BGPSA Chaplain (2007-2008):

 

Week of April 20th, 2008:

The end is in sight!
I have immensely enjoyed sharing with all of you every week.
Thank you for journeying with me online, on the page, to and through BGPSA events, and to ministry nights at Orange Correctional Center.
I hope that you will continue to be enligtened, encouraged, and inspired as we continue journeying, achieving whatever because we're believing together.

This last poem is titled "Dream Teams":

Who am "I" without "you"?
Who are "you" without me?
What can "you" or "I" do
unless "you" and "I" become "we"?

"We" have superpowers:
"We" are what "we" believe.
What "we" claim to be ours
will be ours to receive.

When I pour into you
and you pour into me
our dreams must come true --
because dreams look for teams.

Week of April 13th, 2008:

As we approach the end of the semester, draining days and drooping eyelids are not an uncommon occurence.
You might be experiecning both even as you read this message.
Does it seem like you have an excess of exams, piles of paperwork, or a deluge of deadlines before you?
You are not alone -- that fact alone can be reassuring.
Right now, we can all say "I have a lot of work to do," and really mean it.
So, why don't we team up by encouraging one another all the way to our individual finish lines?
There are no I's in "team" or "work" but encouragement is one form of teamwork that can help every "I" get his/her work done in a way that isn't depleting.
In fact, this kind of teamwork might just complete you as you complete everything that you have to complete!

Week of April 6th, 2008:

In the calm before the storm, before the sun goes out on you, before the clouds begin to form, before you know you’re going through a season of struggle, do you know the reason for your peace?
The reason for your confidence?
The reason you feel complete?
You feel the peace you do because you’ve known a thing called pain, because you’ve only achieved sunshine by acquiescing to the rain -- and rain has helped you grow, your rain’s poured long and deep: sweat and tears are what you've sown, peace and joy are what you’ve reaped.

Week of March 23rd, 2008:

Reclaiming the past hope on which our present burdens are born(e), that is the
definition of faith.
Sharing this harvest of faith -- the blessings and the burdens -- with other people, that is the definition of relationship.
Making use of our collective resources for the edfication of these relationships, that is the definition of change.
Thus, the communal commitment to change -- the act of each one of us dedicating ourselves to taking action with our resources, our relationships, and our faith -- that is the definition of a defining love.
You really can be the change you wish to see in the world!

Week of March 16th, 2008:

Do you believe in dreams?
Dreams that you have before the clock beeps?
Dreams that sustain you long after you sleep?
Dreams that sing songs that give life a new beat?
Dreams that you live and you give and you speak?
Hold fast to those dreams: those dreams have picked you, those dreams are your life if you make them come true.
...if you'd like to know more, ask a dreamer named Hughes...

Week of March 2nd, 2008:

Strength is not the dazzling display of self-reliance, self-discipline, and self-motivation that we may be socialized to strive toward.
No, strength is the willingness to admit that by myself, I am weak -- that I am uttely powerless when I seek to achieve anything on my own.
Strength shines best, then, when I realize that my powerlessness can only be overcome by my decision to connect with others who are strong enough to believe in collective empowerment.

Week of February 24th, 2008:

Revelation happens when we tell our busy lives to stop -- when we take the time to remember how we attained the privilege of having busy lives in the first place.
Celebration happens when we remember to share our revelational remembrances with one another.
Fellowship happens when we make a habit of celebrating our collective revelational remembrances with one another.
Black History month, then, is not about to end... the revelation, celebration, and fellowship we shared this month can and will endure if we make it our business to tell that to our busy-ness.

Week of February 17th, 2008:

I tell the storm to go away.
The storm ignores these words I say.
The stress of life rains down on me, deadlines and hard times drowning me.
The storm won't leave -- so what to do?
I guess I'll change my attitude:
I can't control what life may throw me -- yet storms of life cannot control me.

Week of February 10th, 2008:

If life is a symphony constituted by the harmony of humanity, then we must constantly work together to create songs that are ever more complex, ever more likely to challenge our sense of the world that our lives inhabit.
Individually, we are unique instruments; collectively, we are life's unique intruments.
The sound of change is as close as we choose to be to the sound of difference.

Week of February 3rd, 2008:

Fulfillment is the face of a celebrated unity; it's the joy beyond measure found deep in the treasure of community.
Fulfillment's brightness shines through the thanks that we give to the lives that speak life to the lives that we live.

Week of January 27th, 2008:

The vast majority of us were born with 2 ears and 1 mouth:  perhaps we should spend twice as much time listening to others as we do talking to them in our conversations.
Equally, the vast majority of us were born with 2 eyes, 2 hands, 2 arms, 2 legs, and 2 feet -- but only 1 body.
Perhaps if we spent twice as much time seeing what others are going through, twice as much time reaching out to them, twice as much time moving to help them when we see that they have a need, our individual bodies, minds, and souls would be, in turn, at least partially taken care of.
Put differently, the resolving of our individual frustrations -- frustrations that might arise from not being heard and seen and felt and helped -- can come as a result of our hearing, seeing, feeling, and helping others.

Week of January 20th, 2008:

In 1959, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shared the following words before a group of 26,00 black high school and college students who were preparing to demonstrate their support of a 1954 Supreme Court decision for racial integration of public schools:
"Whatever career you may choose for yourself... let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.
Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.
Make it a central part of your life.
It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher... make a career of humanity"
(King quoted in A Testament of Hope, p. 22).
May we all make the establishment of social justice and equality the framework that supports all of the work that we do.
At Duke and beyond, we are blessed to be a blessing; blessing others through a commitment to social justice is part of a more blessed life for all.

Week of January 13th, 2008:

The power of progress does not lie in the intellectual's insight, the businessman's foresight, or, the athlete's long nights.
Our possessing the blessing of progress takes the power of community -- it takes our realization that I cannot do anything without the power of you and me.

Week of January 6th, 2008:

As the new semester begins, may we all be resolved to make the most of every moment that we have...
What are words for if they don't edify -- if they don't help us help others to keep hope alive?
What is class for if we don't take what we know and share it with someone who's longing to grow?
What are my todays for if I don't share them with you?
Moments shared are like words: They can leave all renewed.

Week of December 9th, 2007:

The greatest gift we could ever give is engaging one another with each moment we live.
The greatest gift we could ever receive is that feeling of fulfillment that comes from knowing another really believes in us -- because he or she takes the time to show it.
Life's greatest gift can't fit in a box, can't hear interruptions, can't see time on the clock.
It is the community you wrap in your life -- the sound of another -- that gives your life music, and meaning -- and brothers.
I wish all of you the gift of brotherhood, love, and peace this holiday season.

Week of December 2nd, 2007:

Interruptions.
Time-consuming and taxing, agonizing and aggravating, we can always count on interruptions to begin when we've got something we need to finish.
Interruptions are the stuff of life.
But when we use interruptions to edify ourselves and others, they can't distress us or distract us.
Rather, interruptions can teach us how to interact with one another in ways that disrupt the drama of our "To Do" list daily lives.
Instead of seeing interruptions as people and situations that kill time, imagine them as improvisational interludes that can purchase what time can't afford: peace, love, and community.
Or, if you prefer, imagine what our world would look like if interruptions became moments off the record, off the clock, wherein we all chose to sacrifice, speak life, and show somebody that we really care.

Week of November 25th, 2007:

"When you go to sleep each night, imagine yourself winning.
And then when you wake up tell yourself,
'Not only am I gonna finish that race today, I'm gonna finish better than I start.'"

These pearls of wisdom from my high school track coach are words I will never forget. I ran distance in middle school and high school, but rarely was I slated to run long, long distance at track meets.
Running cross-country in the fall always prepared me for my middle distance races on the track in the spring, but I never had to run an event longer than a mile at any meet.
One day, however, I had to fill in for a teammate and run the 2 mile (8 times around the track), and the words that begin this passage were my coach's words of encouragement to me.
As the semester winds down, I pass these words on to you.
Papers, projects, presentations, exams -- whatever it is, be sure to see yourself as the winner you know you are before you cross the finish line.
You wouldn't be in the "race" you are today if you hadn't spent years of training to get you here.
So remember how far you've come as you look to the finish... and then finish strong.
Finish better than you started.
Finish because you and I both know that you can.

Week of November 18th, 2007:

Thanks to those who help me walk, to those who listen when I talk.
Thanks to those who dare to dream, to those who help me spread my wings.
Thanks to those whose labor speaks, to those who sow so I can reap.
Thanks to those whose spirits give -- your giving shows me how to live.

Week of November 11th, 2007:

Do you remember a time when dreams were what you lived for, love was what you'd die for, and community was what kept you going?
Do you remember a time when you did more than survive -- when you thrived because the voice inside you said life is more than just staying alive, making it through, dotting I's, crossing T's and having too much work to do?
Do you remember a time when you dared to have dreams, when you dared to shed tears, face up to your fears, when you dared to just be?
Off the clock, off the record, memory sustains who we are; she tells us who we've been and how far we've come; she reveals all the dreamers who helped us to be what we've always wanted to become.
Do you remember your memories?

Week of November 4th, 2007:

Learning (n):
1. The act of building community by genuinely exploring difference.
2. What happens when we listen twice, and speak once.
3. The intangible wealth that comes from putting the perspectives of others before the knowledge of the self.
4. Inspiring someone to see the world differently by taking the time to see the world through their eyes.

Week of October 28th, 2007:

Have you ever seen kids at a playground?
I've seen them meandering in monkey-bar melodies, swinging high above hopelessness, jump-roping over what happened this morning, and roller-blading past the rolling sets of eyes they met when they bravely asked, "Can I play with you?"
The focus, free-sprited energy, and forgetfulness that many children exude is something I strive for.
I want to be like them when I grow up.
I want to have the courage to smile even though someone hurt me a few minutes ago.
I want to have the peace of mind to let go of the problem I couldn't solve.
I want to have the determination to live each moment to its fullest.
I want to have joy.
What about you?
Will the joy doctrine of the playground help you play out your days in ways you will enjoy?

Week of October 21st, 2007:

In our quick-fix, microwave culture, what does a balanced life diet look like?
Our lives are often piled high with the pressure to perform, produce, pass, succeed.
Such pressure may leave us spiritually famished.
I have often felt academic and/or professional demands that require, for instance, endurance -- yet my main courses for the week leave out reflection time.
How can I expect to endure when I haven't fed myself peace -- the calm that comes from slowing down enough to reflect on the why and wherefore of my daily rat race?
Bottom line: I challenge you and myself to feed our spirits in ways that will leave us energized, productive, and positive all week long.
What will YOUR life diet look like this week?

Week of October 14th, 2007:

Are you up for a free vacation that will also free your mind?
I dare you to put your agenda on a 15-minute pause at some point this week.
Get out a pen and a pad, and somewhere on your page write: "I remember..."
Transport yourself into the world of your memories -- see, touch, feel, smell, and hear moments of your past, and document them.
Why do I suggest this? Well, when we reconnect with our past we can rewrite our present and re-vision our future.
When we reorient ourselves to our daily grind by remembering where we've come from, we find resources to face each day that we may have otherwise overlooked.

Week of October 7th, 2007:

Peace.
We all need it, but how can we consistently keep peace in our hectic, over-stressed, time-pressed lives?
I believe peace is as near to us as we want it to be: personal peace comes when we become personal peacemakers.
Make up your mind to find peace of mind this week by putting time into your schedule that is centered on taking time out for yourself.
I believe you and everyone you interact with will appreciate you all the more for it!

Week of September 30th, 2007:

My words for the week: any progress is good progress!
I remind you and encourage you to celebrate EVERY victory life shines on you -- especially the small ones.
Those are the ones that really count.

Week of September 23rd, 2007:

Sometimes pressing on means reaching out.
As we rapidly approach the end of the first month of the semester, it is now all too easy to get wrapped up in what needs to get done and when it should have been done.
As the novelty of new classes, jobs, positions, etc. gradually disappears, expectations seem to accelerate and drama seems to escalate.
Peace is indeed a priority, and it lies within your ears and your mouth.
Choose to really listen when someone tells you how they are feeling this week.
Sympathize with their struggle -- offer a word of encouragement:
"I know you can make it."
Encouraging others will, in turn, encourage you in ways you never could have foreseen.

Week of September 16th, 2007:

I know Thanksgiving is a couple of months away, but it is never to out-of-season to reflect on life's blessings.
If you are like me, the recent drop in temperatures is one thing you are appreciating even right now!
This week, I challenge you and I challenge myself to share with someone what you are grateful for... because sometimes hearing a "thanks" spoken gives you and others the inner strength to keep going.
Have a great week!

Week of September 9th, 2007:

As you begin this new academic year, remember that newness is a gift wrapped in responsibility and possibility.
Open each day with new hope, unpack each class with new passion, and pursue new challenges with the best of expectations.
Celebrate newness in class and out of class, before and after the exam, during the process of paper-writing, and long after the paper is turned in.
Especially as our semesters begin, let each new day find you responsibly renewing your perspective on life's possibilities... it might just change your life!